Micic and dominant D lift Zalgiris past Valencia

Zalgiris Kaunas rode a dominant start to the second half to earn a 63-71 victory over Valencia Basket, bolstering its position in the top half of the standings and condemning the Spanish team to a 10th consecutive defeat. Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius’s men claimed their fifth road win of the season in improving to 9-5 and dropping slumping to 3-11. Valencia led by 2 points at half-time but it was all Zalgiris after the break. Vasilije Micic paced the victors with 16 points, while Paulius Jankunas combined 11 points with 11 rebounds. Aaron White and Arturas Milaknis each scored 11 and Brandon Davies added 10. Valencia’s challenge was led by a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds from Bojan Dubljevic and Erick Green’s 14 points.

Davies scored the game’s first two baskets from close range, and Edgaras Ulanovas gave Zalgiris a 0-6 start. Aaron Doornekamp’s jumper got Valencia on the board, but then Davies scored again and Valencia had just 2 points midway through the opening quarter. Jankunas protected the lead with 6 points in a hurry, but Valencia picked up its offensive production through inside shooting, including two baskets for Alberto Abalde, and it was 16-19 at the start of the second. Triples from Will Thomas and Green gave Valencia its first lead, but a pair of two-pointers from Micic and a fastbreak slam from White made it 26-27. Rafa Martinez and Doornekamp connected from long-range to give Valencia its biggest lead yet, but a Micic-to-White alley-oop and a triple from Milaknis – Zalgiris’s first of the game – pulled it back to 36-34 at halftime.

Zalgiris started the second half with a triple from Micic and a dunk from Davies. A Micic layup made it 39-45 as Valencia was held nearly nine minutes without a field goal, during which it missed 11 consecutive shots. A triple from Kevin Pangos, who had been out of the game on 3 fouls, took the lead to 42-48, and Ulanovas added a three-point play before Dubljevic finally scored Valencia’s first field goal of the quarter with 1:20 remaining. White’s triple made it a double-digit game, but Dubljevic scored again to finish the third at 46-54. A three from Milaknis and another White alley-oop slam was countered by Dubljevic from close range and Martinez from deep, but White’s free throws kept the lead in double figures. Valencia couldn’t find a spark as Zalgiris scored often enough to protect its advantage. Green’s triple gave Valencia hope at 59-65 with three minutes remaining and Sam Van Rossom made it a 4-point game after Zalgiris missed chances to seal the outcome. But the visitors came out of a timeout to nail back-to-back threes by Micic and Milaknis that iced the win.

Head Coaches

VIDORRETA, TXUS

Valencia Basket

“We made a great effort to play against one of the top teams of this EuroLeague season. Zalgiris are playing great basketball, they won in Fenerbahce, and are doing things really well. Our defense was great, we controlled defensive rebounds after the first few minutes, and we believed in our chances to win. We could not do more in our fourth game in six days.”

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS

Zalgiris Kaunas

“I thought some players started a bit sluggish, but they really turned it on in the second half and it was a good performance. It was my type of victory – blood, sweat and a lot of character. Congratulations to my players. All I know is our next game is Saturday and then Olympiacos. That’s as far as I’m looking.”

“It was a great win. Every road win in EuroLeague is amazing. We beat a team that was under pressure, they really needed to win, and it was important to convince my team that it’s not possible to take any steps back. We’re a small team and we don’t have the talent of other teams, and although we’re doing well at the moment that could change quickly. We have to go from game to game and know how to suffer.”

Players

DOORNEKAMP, AARON

Valencia Basket

“They played well in the second half. They executed their offense, got a lot of good looks and controlled the game with their shot selection. We couldn’t do anything on offense, we were out of sorts.”

ULANOVAS, EDGARAS

Zalgiris Kaunas

“It was a big key to play good defense, because Valencia move the ball well, shoot threes and play tough, and we knew they had nine losses so they tried to win, but we were tough for 40 minutes and stayed together. This is the first time we’ve won both games in a double week and now we’ve got to keep going. This is nothing, there are plenty more games to come. We have to keep improving, play better and stay together all season.”